When you've written your story at one reading level, you may wonder how to make it more kid-friendly or readable at the third grade level or the first grade level. Attack this problem starting at the word level and move to the sentence level.

Flesch-Kincaid

The Flesch Reading Ease formula used by Microsoft WORD is a number from 0 to 100; the higher score indicates easier reading. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula converts a Reading Ease Score to a U.S. grade-school level. These scores show how well you have lowered the reading level of a story, but don't assume it will match the reading level used by schools or the publisher you seek. Both formulas look at average numbers of syllables in words and average sentence length. It is recommended that text be 200 words before the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores are accurate.

Spache and Dale Formulas

Here's a website to help you lower reading level. It gives you reading level and highlights difficult words. You can choose between the Spache or Dale Readability Formula (with a helpful website listing words for each). Unfortunately, you can only test 200 words at a time: http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php

Adjust at the word level

When your reading level is too high, retain the key words of the sentence but substitute more familiar synonyms. "Megan sauntered down the block to visit her chum." Writers are encouraged to use a variety of words for movement, but substitute "walked" for "sauntered," and use "friend" in place of "chum" to lower the level. If you have difficult, maybe scientific words, use contextual clues to help define harder words. The difference will not show up in any readability index, but the passage will be easier to read.

Adjust at the sentence level

1. Write each sentence in regular sentence order--subject followed by the verb.
2. Avoid short, choppy sentences that sound stilted.
3. Avoid passive voice (The car hit the boy. Not: The boy was hit by the car.)
4. Minimize the number of clauses and phrases.
5. Repeat words or concepts to allow the reader to become familiar with them.
6. Be sure that every pronoun has a clear, unmistakable antecedent.

Be aware that some of these measures will be reflected in a readability index, and some won't, but grade level will be affected nonetheless. Readability is not a hard and fast rule you can measure like the number of feet in a mile.

Let's test the theories

* Training for knighthood during medieval times usually began at an early age. Often the prospective knight was sent to live with a relative or lord who had the resources to train the young boy in use of weapons and, most importantly, the skills to handle a horse in combat. A knight-in-training would often serve as a squire (assistant) for an established knight, attending his needs, helping him don his armor, and making ready his horse and weapons.

Once his training was completed and he reached "fighting age" (usually around 16-20 years old), he would ceremoniously become a full-fledged knight. The ceremony became more elaborate as the Middle Ages progressed, until only the richest nobles or a king could afford to "knight" someone.

Total words: 122, Sentences: 5, Average words per sentence: 24.4, Dale-Chall Readability: 11-12th grade, Difficult words: underlined, Flesch Reading Ease: 48.2, Flesch-Kincaid Grade level: 12

* From www.knightsandarmor.com/life.htm

The first problem is sentence length. With hardly changing the words, shorten the sentences and see what you've got:

Training for knighthood during medieval times usually began at an early age. Often the prospective knight was sent to live with a relative or lord. He had the resources to train the young boy to use weapons. Most important, he taught the skill for handling a horse in combat. A knight-in-training would often serve as a squire (assistant) for an established knight. He attended his needs, helped him don his armor, and make his horse and weapons ready.

Once his training was completed, he reached "fighting age" at around 16-20 years old. He would then ceremoniously become a full-fledged knight. The ceremony became more elaborate as the Middle Ages progressed. Finally, only the richest nobles or a king could afford to "knight" someone.

Total words: 123, Sentences: 10, Average words per sentence: 12.3, Dale-Chall Readability: 9-10th grade, Flesch Reading Ease: 62.2, Flesch-Kincaid Grade level: 7.6

Now, try to simplify some of the text and see what happens:

Training for knighthood during the middle ages, about 400-1500 AD, usually started when a boy was young. The knight-to-be was sent to live with a relative or lord. The lord knew how to train the young boy to use weapons. Most important, he taught him how to handle a horse when fighting. A knight-in-training could serve as a squire (assistant) for a real knight. He took care of the knight's needs. He helped the knight put on armor. He made his horse and weapons ready.

Once he was trained, he reached "fighting age" (about 16-20 years old). He would become a full-fledged knight in a ceremony. The ceremony became longer and fancier later in the Middle Ages. Finally, only the richest nobles or a king could afford to make someone a knight.

Total words: 132, Sentences: 12, Average words per sentence: 11, Dale-Chall Readability: 7-8th grade, Flesch Reading Ease: 72.6, Flesch-Kincaid Grade level: 5.8

Summary

If the student is reading about the Middle Ages, she already knows some about a knight and a squire, so these words will not challenge her. Also, "knight" is repeated over and over and loses its difficulty with repetition. With the technical words in this selection, it is doubtful that readability can be lowered much more, so this may be as low as you want to go.

As a further test, try substituting a simple word for all the technical words, and see what readability you get.